Summary: As in many cities, in Mumbai we barely witness the passage of water from rain to sea via lakes, watersheds, pipes, pumps, pots, human and animal bodies, drains and sewers. Even as these hidden passages describe a unique social, chemical and political structure, a map of ourselves in the modern world.

More than many of us, residents in the slums of Jogeshwari spend time waiting and hurrying around this substance, its leaks and sources. As part of an investigation into the social life of water in these areas, Pani Sare Dhaga Ma (Water is In All the Clouds) is a collaborative project between youth of two community organizations- Aakansha Sewa Sangh and Agaaz, with CAMP and led by the anthropologist Nikhil Anand. Working together since March 2008, we have been thinking through questions of "citizenship" and distribution by looking at how residents form relationships with water and its infrastructures: including official water supply, alternative plumbing, ground water, tanker politics, and so on.

This clip focuses on the passage of water in pipes, the state of the Indian water supply, and the ever mounting need for change if we are to remedy this situation.

As the camera moves, we see that the lack of available space for housing has forced people to build their houses in close proximity to these huge pipes. Running parallel to, and in between the pipes, are passages allowing the maintenance crews access. However, the passages are overgrown with weeds and shrubs, raising questions of when these pipes were last serviced. And over and above this fact, we can see people walking over the pipes, unable to find other ways to cross their expanse with the passages so overgrown.

At the end of the day, you have to wonder how safe, or how clean the water in those pipes is. They rusted and cracked surfaces do not inspire much confidence; neither does the sight of a young boy using the pipe itself as his toilet, and the nearby leak as a source of water.
Marol Pipeline, Andheri East, Mumbai
Aagaz
Bhatsa
Modak Sagar
Mumbai
Shahapur
Tansa
Vaitarna
Water
leakage
pipelines
sanitation

Powai Lake, Mumbai
We now focus on Powai Lake, previously a source of water for this section of Mumbai. The heavy increase in pollution ensures that the water in the lake can no longer be used to bathe, or even to wash clothes with. Instead, the water is now used to wash cars or mix cement on construction sites.This in turn has reduced the number of lakes that supply water to Mumbai from two to one, the other being Vihar Lake.

We can't help but notice the contrast between the past and the present - the lake is no longer centred in lush greenery, but rather, is based in Mumbai's ever increasing concrete jungle. High rise towers on one side vie with a rather shabby patch of greenery on the other.

It is clear that the rapid development in this area did not take the fragile ecosystem into consideration. While buildings have sprung up in the hundreds, we failed to provide for a decent drainage system. As a result, there wasn't a viable outlet for all the wastes created in this process, and the waste found its way into the Powai Lake.

If you look closely, there are actually air bubbles rising to the surface of the lake...
Aagaz
Mumbai
Vihar Lake
concrete
construction
forest
industrial
water

Powai Lake, Mumbai
We now see a pipeline that transports water from Powai Lake to vast industrial tankers. Once these are filled, the water is then distributed towards a variety of functions, such as construction, the cleaning of public space, the washing of cars, etc.

Once again, the pipes appear in rather shabby condition. Made from cement, the pipe has burst open at a point, fountaining out water at regular intervals. The whole process is wasteful and inefficient, but after all, what can one expect from an authority that refuses to properly maintain the pipes that supply water for the consumption of its human population? Not doubt industrial purposes fall much further down the scale of importance.
Aagaz
Mumbai
Powai Lake
construction
industrial
pipeline
water

We now see a a well near Chandshah-wali durgah near Vihar Lake. It is worth noting that while the well is very old - nobody even remembers when it was built - the people who use the well as a water supply are new age, and refuse to draw water manually. They claim, "no one has the time to keep drawing water from the well; we have jobs and we need to work." Sohail finds the visual of the well, filled with pipes, stunning. He says, "the well symbolises society, the pipes are symbols of humans, and the water symbolises nirvana, fulfilment which everybody wants but no one takes the time to truly pursue."
Chandshah wali dargah, Mumbai
Aagaz
Vihar Lake
heat
household
motor
nirvana
rain
society
water
well

Apart from the philosophy they seem to inspire, the pipes in the well supply the houses in the complex with water, drawn up by an electric water motor. These water motors are not owned collectively, but tend to be individual property, so that each household pays as per their needs. But we are led to wonder about these needs, as the water level in the well dips lower with every succeeding day. We are assured, however, that there is continuous supply of water from the ground underneath.

Do note how possessive each household is of their electric water motors - erecting fencing around it, placing a cement sheet or shade over it to prevent it from factors like rain, heat, etc. It's clear they understand how very dependent upon its functions they are.

Sasti, Mumbai
We see a BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) water filtration plant in Sasti, Mumbai. The view is a melange of images, intended to capture anything and everything related to water. Sohail informs us that they shot everything in which they can could have captured the spirit of 'water'. He tells us, "when we went to the BMC filtration plant, we did not even knew what the place was called. In fact, when we asked few kids playing nearby, even they did not have a clue about it. It was only afterwards, during the research that we found out what the place was called." While they they knew it was some kind of purification or filtration plant, they were unaware of the fact that it belonged to the BMC.

The nest thing we see if a shot of the Bandra flyover which links two parts of the city - the east and the west. We are treated to an overview of Mithi river, just before it meets the sea.
Aagaz
BMC
Bandra
Mithi
Sasti
filtration
flyover
plant
river
water

Bandra
The footage is Mithi river before it meets into the sea.

The two parallel pipes which one sees in the footage are a part of the pipes that bring water from Shahapur via the four dams like, Tansa, Bhatsa, Vaitarna and Modak Sagar. The pipes carrying water are moving towards the mainland Mumbai. The pipes are parallel to the railway line which is said to be lifeline of Mumbai. The local trains carry lakhs of people from one point of Mumbai to the other end each day. It so seems that even the pipes are fascinated and attracted to the city of Mumbai.
Aagaz
Bhatsa
Mithi
Modak Sagar
Mumbai
Shahapur
Tansa
Vaitarna
leak
lifeline
local
pipes
river
trains
water

As you can see, there's another set of pipes carrying water to mainland Mumbai. The presence of the previous set of pipes leads Hashim to believe that the pipes are divided between central and western Mumbai. The pipes we are currently viewing are probably travelling through to west Mumbai.

During the incident on the 26th of July, Mumbai was brought to a stand still by the flooding of the Mithi river, creating chaos. It is possible that the sheer detritus and pollution in the considerably inadequate sewer and drainage system prevented the flow of the Mithi river to the sea, therefore causing it to flood. Hakim ponders, "it's surprising to think that a majority of Mumbaiites didn't even knew that there is a river which flows through Mumbai, though the river mentioned was known as the biggest sewer in Mumbai before the 26/7 incident."

Although government authorities have been working on the issue for many years - attempting to widen the mouth of the Mithi river to make it easier for it to drain into the sea - the work is still ongoing. The cranes we see in this clip are proof that the the work is still on, years after the supposed completion date.
Bandra
Aagaz
Mithi
Mumbai
central
lifeline
local
pipes
river
tracks
trains
water
western

Aagaz
Bandra
Mahim
Mahim Beach, Mumbai
The scene we see is that of Mahim beach, filled with the continued construction of the much-awaited Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The sea link is aimed at reducing the commuting time for travel between mainland Mumbai and the suburbs.

Hakim notes that the image associated with the word 'beach' leads us to think of blue-green seas and gorgeous extended shores of white sand. Instead, it's more than apparent that Mumbai beaches are nothing of the sort - they're filled with discarded waste, and the water remains a foul brown. It's clear that we need to rethink our interaction with water if we're to change any of these scenarios.